For his 1966 Bob Dylan poster, Milton Glaser used a silhouette inspired by a self-portrait of Marcel Duchamp; the rainbow hair derived from Persian miniatures. The confabulatoryresult was a graphic design icon that epitomized the late ’60s.Although it is not as iconic, Glaser’s 1969 poster for the industrialdesign icon, the Olivetti Valentine typewriter, designed by Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King, featured another of his sublime borrowings. As Gerrit Terstiege of Formmagazine notes, Glaser referenced The Death of Procris (above),painted in 1495 by Piero di Cosimo. Glaser told Form: “When I got theassignment to design a series of posters for the Valentine, I thoughtit would be quite charming to design each motif as a paraphrase of worksfrom Italian art history. I particularly loved this painting by diCosimo, above all because of the sorrowful dog in this magnificent,metaphysical landscape. It reminded me a little of the dog on the RCAVictor logo, listening to his master’s voice.”
About Steven Heller
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes frequently for Wired and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal and is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.View all posts by Steven Heller →